HC Deb 05 July 1973 vol 859 cc718-20
Q3. Sir Gilbert Longden

asked the Prime Minister if he will visit the United Nations on the occasion of the next meeting of the General Assembly.

Q10. Mr. Adley

asked the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to the United Nations.

The Prime Minister

My right hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary hopes to visit the General Assembly during September but I have at present no plans for such a visit myself.

Sir Gilbert Longden

Will my right hon. Friend ask the Foreign Secretary to suggest to the Assembly that it should bring up to date and reconsider a study that was commissioned by the late Mr. Dag Hammarskjöld in about 1958 on the question of a United Nations emergency force that could be used not only for peace-keeping purposes but for bringing instant first aid to the natural catastrophies that happen so often throughout the world?

The Prime Minister

I do not recall the study but I will ask my right hon. Friend whether he will arrange for it to be looked at again. I have a clear recollection that when a permanent force was proposed certain members of the Security Council were not prepared to agree to any permanent force, and I do not believe that their view has changed. The United Kingdom plays its full part in the ad hoc forces, such as that stationed in Cyprus, required for peace-keeping.

Mr. Peter Archer

At its next session the United Nations General Assembly will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Will Her Majesty's Government celebrate the event by ratifying the declaration?

The Prime Minister

I shall consider that. We are observing the celebrations in London.

Mr. Adley

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that Article 26(3) of the Declaration states that Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children"? Will he also confirm that no opprobrium attaches to right hon. and hon. Members opposite who choose to educate their children privately, other than that of hyprocrisy?

The Prime Minister

I thank my hon. Friend for reminding me of the substance of that article. Her Majesty's Government support the maximum freedom of choice in education, and always have done. We welcome the fact that some right hon. and hon. Members opposite take full advantage of it.

Mr. Kaufman

When the Foreign Secretary goes to the United Nations, will he repeat what he said in the foreign affairs debate last week—that the present Government's interpretation of Resolution No. 242 on the Middle East is the same as that of the Labour Government, and that the Government therefore endorse the interpretation of that resolution as given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition in Israel at the turn of the year?

The Prime Minister

I am sure that my right hon. Friend will be quite prepared to say in the United Nations, if it is appropriate to his speech, what he has already said to this House.